People have been talking about Apple (and cofounder Steve Jobs) as “The Comeback Kid” for years, thanks to a new line of Macs and a little critter called the iPod, but that’s not a story for CRM. What is a story is another Apple item, the iPhone. As CRM users latched onto this consumer gadget and turned it into a business device, CRM vendors—including Oracle and Salesforce.com—have been writing iPhone applications, changing the way we look at mobile CRM, literally and figuratively. “It’s that cool a tool, it’s that visual—and with the 3G version it will have the speed,” says Paul Greenberg, industry luminary, iPhone user, and one of this year’s Influential Leaders. “[Apple has] the quality of an extraordinary user experience, and that’s not to be underestimated.”

Even Microsoft honcho Steve Ballmer is impressed, reportedly writing to staffers that Apple’s a success “because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience.” One obstacle for Apple involves another fruit: The RIM BlackBerry has a proven track record, dominance of the business market, and superior security features—for now. “Apple iPhone isn’t RIM yet, but it’s way more promising than a year ago,” Greenberg says. “With rich media, the ability to tie into enterprise networks, and integration with Microsoft Exchange, they’ll get there.”